Chittenango boys volleyball rallies repeatedly for win over Canastota

VERONA - Wednesday's boys volleyball match between Canastota and Chittenango figured to be fairly even and it was, though it didn't look like it would be after a sluggish start by the hosts.

Coach Shay Sgroi's Raiders bolted to a 13-4 advantage then Chittenango chipped away at the deficit and closed the first game with a 5-0 run to win 25-21. Coach Rob Smith's Bears fell behind in the second game as well but rallied for an even more dramatic 29-27 victory.

Then it was Canastota's turn to rally. The visitors trailed 23-16 in the third game but came back for a 26-24 victory before Chittenango rallied for a 25-21 win in the fourth to end the match.

"It was a fun match for senior night," Smith said. "We had a lot less errors than usual."

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Avery Brennen and Michael McDermott's hitting helped Canastota take the big lead to start the first game. Brennen capped the run with an ace but a Jon Simmons hit started the Bears (4-11) on the comeback path. Brad Markowski had a clever shoot for a kill then had a block three points later to get things started then Simmons and Markowski did the damage at the end of the game to put Canastota way.

Brennen had two of his match-high 19 kills to get Canastota (3-12) off to a great start in the next game and had two aces to cap the 9-3 run. Simmons answered with two kills to highlight a 7-0 run for the Bears and the game seesawed from there until Markowski, Anthony Lozipone and Zach McCarthy had kills at the end to put the hosts ahead 2-0.

But the tables were turned in the third game as Chittenango grabbed a big lead only to see Canastota rally. Canastota's Zach McCarthy had an ace to help his team go ahead 12-8 then Chittenango's Zach McCarthy sparked a 15-4 run with two kills, and teammate Brandon Woodward had an ace and Simmons added a block.

Josh Whaley served eight straight points including an ace to get Canastota to game point. The hosts withstood one but not the second as the Raiders' Zach McCarthy had an ace to cap the 26-24 win.

Brennen began the fourth game with some powerful hits and McDermott added a kill to help the Raiders take a 10-6 lead. Chittenango used a missed serve by the Raiders to start a 5-0 run that led to back and forth play. Canastota took a 21-20 edge before committing a few errors that opened the door for Chittenango to close out the match. Markowski had a kill for the 24th point and a block to end the match.